There’s something about a water-worn stone. Maybe it’s the heft in the palm of your hand, its soothing surface beneath a caressing thumb, or the way it quickly absorbs and holds body heat as though warmed by the sun. Kids are drawn to them. Adults, too, when we allow ourselves.
That attraction is what makes an upcoming show curated by Kareen Burns so intriguing. The Tiffany Stones: Portraits of rugged individuals – opening on Wednesday, September 8 at The Other Side Gallery – features 19 people holding black volcanic stones worn smooth by the North Sea.
The stones are from a rugged beach on Scotland’s east coast frequented by Burns as a child and one that she returns to every time she visits her homeland.
“I have picked up these stones all my life,” says Burns. “We did it as kids. This whole beach is full of them and every time I’m home in Scotland, I pick up some more stones.”
She keeps them in a blue Tiffany box, sometimes taking them out to play with them, and often gifts them to people. For a long time, that’s where it stopped. But then Burns had the idea to take photos of those people with their stones and she enlisted the help of photographer Anna Gaby-Trotz, who was also the recipient of one of the stones.
They invited 17 other people – Nancy Alcock, Bob Atfield, Kate Brown, Catherine Cole, Suzanne Greenaway, Beverly Hawksley, Laura Heming, Sherry Peddie, Mary Rashleigh, Cameron Renwick, Helena Renwick, Suzanne Riverin, June Salmon, Rob Saunders, Rudi Stade, Diane Thoms, and Kirsty Williamson – for an informal photo session at The Other Side Gallery. Photos of Burns and Gaby-Trotz will also appear in the show.
“I explained where I had picked them up from and how special they were to me and then we took the photos. They’re all different – it’s about how they felt they wanted to have their picture taken.”
Burns is drawn to the classic timelessness of black and white photos and wanted all of the shots to be minimalistic. “These are not glamour shots. They were taken against a gray wall and concrete floor in the gallery. People could turn up and wear whatever they wanted; they could sit, they could stand. It was however they wanted to express themselves.”
Each photo will be accompanied by a small amount of text – just one or two sentences – that explain how the person feels about the stone. All have been crafted with the help of June Salmon.
The result, says Burns, is “a visual story created in black and white photos of rugged individuals in my life accompanied by bon mot, holding the worn stones that I have gifted for love, support, admiration, and respect.” Sounds created by Sarah Spring specifically for the show will play in the background.
She hasn’t yet seen the photos, and neither have the rest of the subjects – Burns wants it to be a surprise – but she’s thrilled for them to finally be revealed. The project has been a long time coming: progress on the show was delayed for a year while Burns battled cancer. She says any proceeds that happen to come of it will be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society.
The Tiffany Stones runs from September 8 to 25 at The Other Side Gallery across from River Mill Park.
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